Economics and the rising cost of land has condensed the size of many farms. The raising of livestock, particularly cows, is done in a density far beyond the numbers of cattle that the land's vegetation can naturally feed. Since grazing cattle will eat all day on fertile ground, this necessitates generally one to two feedings a day from a farmer raising cattle on barren or less fertile ground. This can be a sizeable task. A herd of 25 to 75 cows will require approximately two mid size, (1000 lbs) six string bales of hay per feeding (daily).
With the advent of modern farm machinery, hay is baled into larger, more dense industry standardized blocks. The standard midsize bale weighs approximately 1000 lbs. For extremely small farms it is possible for the farmer to pitch the hay with a pitchfork off the back of a pickup truck or to segment the standard bales into smaller bales and throw them off the truck. However, when dealing with small herds this is not practical because it requires more than one person. Transporting and segmenting these about the farmyard requires specialized equipment often beyond the budget of the small herd farmer and better suited for large herds.
The various feedstock for cattle ranges in density from from alfalfa, hay and grass hay. Additionally, if the feedstock is kept uncovered outside, it may be wet on its top or possibly, partially frozen. This density has a profound effect on how the bale can be segregated into flakes.
Henceforth, a small profile hay feeder that can be utilized in conjunction with existing farm equipment and can house enough grain, grass or the like for a single feeding of a small herd, and is capable of segmenting and distributing the various density feedstocks about a farmyard, would fulfill a long felt need of the small farmer. This new invention utilizes and combines known and new technologies in a unique and novel configuration to overcome the aforementioned problems and accomplish this.